The stem cell revolution turned out to be a fraud

A Japanese fairy tale with a sad ending. Instead of a success story, a delay in stem cell research

Scientific success stories are always captivating. Many were inspired by the stories of exceptionally virtuous scientists who, through a combination of talent, diligence and perseverance, achieved incredible breakthroughs, overcame the voices of doubters and gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately, for every such success story, there are many failures, big and small. One of them - particularly shocking - stirred up Japan this year, and the entire world of science. The story of a scientist who briefly touched fame, but her fall sowed destruction and destruction around her.

Rising star

In January of this year, Haruko Obokata announced an amazing breakthrough: a simple and extremely effective method for producing cells similar in their properties to embryonic stem cells. The method was published in the prestigious journal Nature, and the young and beautiful Ovokata was the star of many enthusiastic news reports about the promising breakthrough.

The first cells formed in the embryo carry the potential to develop into any type of cell - muscle, skin, brain and so on. That's why these stem cells are considered to have tremendous medical potential: they can apparently be injected into diseased tissues, or after an injury, and they will produce the necessary substances there. The great promise of stem cells has not yet been realized for various reasons, including the many controversies over the use of cells from embryos, which raises issues of ethics, morality and religion. Eight years ago, a Japanese scientist, Shinya Yamanaka, developed a method to take mature cells and return them to an embryonic state thanks to a series of genetic changes. The groundbreaking discovery earned Yamanaka the Nobel Prize in Medicine. However, his method has many limitations: it is slow, cumbersome, and yields only a tiny proportion of stem cell-like cells. Obokata solved the problem in a remarkably simple way.

"Plants, such as carrots for example, can produce stem cells from mature cells in response to an external stressor, such as cutting," Obukata explained in an interview with the Nature podcast. ". In the end, she found that treatment with a strong acid caused mouse spleen cells to return to their embryonic state, even though acid normally kills cells. The meaning was a simple and cheap way to quickly produce a large amount of stem cells for research and medicine. Obukata gave the cells the nickname STAP (Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency - obtaining pluripotency through external pressure).

recovery difficulties

Obukata did her doctorate at Waseda University in Japan. During her doctoral studies, she spent two years at Harvard Medical School, where she developed the STAP method. When she returned to Israel, she was accepted to the Riken Institute, a government research institute in the city of Kobe. Last year, when she was only 30 years old, she was appointed head of the cell reprogramming laboratory at the institute. A short time later, the articles on the method were published, and the success made the young researcher a well-known figure in the entire world. However, doubts soon arose.

As is customary in science, Obokata published her methods, so that other researchers could reproduce the experiments and continue them. However, those who tried to treat their cells with the acid according to Obukata's publication, did not receive stem cells, as promised, but simply test tubes of dead cells. Her research partners began to worry, and asked Nature to cancel the articles. The people of the journal re-examined the articles and found mistakes in them, it is not clear whether they were created accidentally or maliciously. They also raised suspicions that sections of the articles in general are copied from the works of other researchers. Two months after the publication, the heads of the Ricken Institute called a press conference. "I would like to apologize for the article published by Rikan Institute researchers in Nature," said the institute's president, Ryoji Noyori. "It's an advertisement that caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people." But the trouble was just beginning. In July, Nature officially announced the withdrawal of the articles, accusing the Japanese scientists of negligence and breach of trust. It was too much for Obukata's boss, Sasai Yoshiki, who was involved in the articles, and in early August he hanged himself at the institute. In the suicide letter, Sasai wrote that he could no longer deal with the media attack, and with his responsibility towards the employees of the Ricken Institute.

Last Chance

Despite the difficult event and Nature's poignant position, Obukata refused to back down, insisting on her position that her findings were correct. She managed to convince her managers to give her one last chance. The institute gave her about six months to prove that her cells were indeed real. She worked in a laboratory well networked with security cameras, with senior scientists keeping a watchful eye on her work. However, three months before the scheduled date, Rikan's researchers realized that this was a futile effort. The institute stopped the experiments, and announced publicly about two weeks ago - there are no STAP cells.
Obukata refuses to talk to the media in recent months, but in a written message she published following the institute's decision, she said that she accepts the decision. She was fired from the Ricken Institute, and is currently holed up in her home.

There is a lot of doubt if Haruko Obukata is indeed the con artist shown in the media in the world, and especially in Israel. Most likely, this is a good scientist, whose enthusiasm for promising results led her to publish results that were not sufficiently tested. However, unlike many other cases, she swept away an entire and respectable research institute in her fantasy, and caused a disaster. Obukata was not able to prove that the great STAP cells actually exist, but she proved once again what the media sometimes has a hard time remembering, that scientists are only human too.